Innovative Initiatives and Transferable Skills in Higher Education

Transferable skills

With the implementation of the Bologna reforms in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), the concept of 'transferable skills' came to the forefront of debates over the nature and purpose of higher education. Traditionally, university curricula were focused on the transmission and acquisition of subject specific content and the training in subject-specific (research) skills. With the expansion of higher education in Europe and over 40 per cent of each cohort entering higher education, this narrow focus on subject-specific knowledge skills had to be reconsidered.

InnovEd4TS - Innovative Education for Transferable Skills

InnovEd4TS, launched in 2019 as a stepping stone in the founding of the Circle U. alliance and involves five universities members of Circle U. (Université Paris Cité, Aarhus University, University of Oslo, Humboldt Universität, UCLouvain) in partnership with the University of Lisbon. The focus has been on the analysis and the development of initiatives that promote the acquisition of transferable skills that students need when facing future challenges.

For two days, we will discuss transferable skills, their purpose, the recommended strategies needed to build an ecosystem that fosters the development of these skills and how the initiatives can be implemented in the future by Circle U.